They Can Dish it Out, but They Can’t Take It
Let’s
see, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz was the leader of what one
might call a small riot (we’ll just call it a very unruly crowd) in
front of the Florida office of United States Congressman Allen West.
The YouTube video shows her screaming at the top of her lungs and
shouting lies about the Congressman, but that’s OK because she’s a
radical feminist. No one in the media questioned such outrageous
behavior by a member of Congress against another member of Congress. No
one asked why a Congressperson from another district in Florida would
be standing outside the office of a fellow member of Congress trying to
incite a crowd to rage with venom clearly inspired by hatred.
But
the mob scene outside the Florida office of Congressman Allen West was
pretty mild stuff for a pit bull like Debbie Wasserman Schultz. When
the story first broke of the awful Tucson shooting of a fellow
Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, you can be sure that Congresswoman
Schultz was one of the first to falsely blame conservatives and Tea
Party members without any evidence whatsoever. And when the facts came
out and the truth was told that the shooting was by a clearly deranged
person, you can be confident that she then blamed the climate of hate
created by the right. She, like the President and the lap dog news
media, called for civility of speech, but that civility was of course
only to muzzle their opponents.
Where was that civility of speech
in front of Congressman Allen West’s Florida office? Where was that
civility on the floor of the United States House of Representatives the
other day when she accused the Congressman of trying to destroy both
Social Security and Medicare? It was politics as usual, not civility,
that Congresswoman Schultz had in mind. When, in fact, has Debbie
Wasserman Schultz ever been known as a person of mild temperament or
civil behavior?
While I might not have used the same words that
were used by Congressman Allen West to describe her, she certainly
deserved them. Congressperson Schultz can dish it out, but she can’t
take it. She’s used to slandering others and having them take it
without speaking back. When those slandered, like Congressman West,
give it right back to her, she puts on her little girl act and gathers
her leftwing girl friends around her to pretend that she really is a
lady. A lady she is not. Feminists and radicals like Debbie Wasserman
Schultz think they have the right to slander and smear with impunity.
Well, Allen West had had enough and he bit back.
And by the
way, who is Allen West? While Congresswoman Schultz wouldn’t recognize
the US Constitution if it hit her in the face, Congressman and
Lieutenant Colonel West is committed to it. He is a man of great
personal character and courage. Here is his story taken directly from
his website…
Lieutenant Colonel Allen West (US Army, Retired) was
born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and is third of four generations of
military servicemen in his family. His parents instilled in him a very
basic principle, love of God and Country. In 2004, when it was time to
retire from more than twenty years of service in the US Army, he
brought his wife and two young daughters to Broward County, Florida,
where he taught high school for one year. He then returned to
Afghanistan as an advisor to the Afghan army, an assignment he finished
in November 2007.
Allen West received his Bachelors degree from
University of Tennessee and Masters degree from Kansas State University,
both in political science. He also holds a Master of Military Arts and
Sciences from the US Army Command and General Staff Officer College in
political theory and military operations.
“Education is the great equalizer,” he says. “With a good education, any child in America can live his dream.”
Allen
West knows that for our children to live their dreams, they need to be
safe. He has served in several combat zones: in Operation Desert Storm,
in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was battalion commander for the
Army’s 4th Infantry Division, and in Afghanistan, where he trained
Afghan officers to take on the responsibility of securing their own
country.
In his Army career, Col. West has been honored many
times, including a Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service Medals, three
Army Commendation Medals (one with Valor), and a Valorous Unit Award.
He received his valor award as a Captain in Desert Shield/Storm, was the
US Army ROTC Instructor of the Year in 1993, and was a Distinguished
Honor Graduate III Corps Assault School. He proudly wears the Army
Master Parachutist badge, Air Assault badge, Navy/Marine Corps
parachutist insignia, Italian parachutist wings, and German proficiency
badge (Bronze award).
Allen is an avid distance runner, a PADI
Master certified SCUBA diver, motorcyclist, and attends Community
Christian Church in Tamarac, Florida.
Excellence is a West family
tradition. His wife, Angela, holds an MBA and Ph.D. and works as a
financial planner. His oldest daughter, Aubrey, attends Archbishop
McCarthy HS and his youngest daughter, Austen, attends Cooper City
Christian Academy.
So why does Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and the
left in general, have such a hatred for Allen West? There are two
things about Allen West that cause liberals like Schultz to become
unhinged. It’s not just that Allen is a conservative or even a military
war hero. They don’t like that, but they will grudgingly tolerate it.
Liberals
like Schultz feel threatened by Allen West serving in Congress. While
they dislike white conservatives, they froth at the mouth at the thought
of a conservative black man or woman serving in Congress. The election
of a thoughtful, intelligent African American conservative like Allen
West gives lie to their false narrative that all black Americans think
alike and it shatters the myth that all conservatives are racist.
Liberalism
and those on the radical left like Schultz cling by a thread to their
political power. It is based solely on their ability to perpetuate the
lie that conservatives are inherently racist and therefore no black
person can be a conservative. Their goal is not just to defeat Allen
West, but to besmirch his character and destroy him so that other
conservative African Americans are intimidated from seeking public
office.
Power is everything to a liberal Congresswoman like
Schultz. It is the end all and be all. Everything can be justified in
the name of gaining and staying in power. The end justifies the means.
If a lie helps a Congressman or President to stay in power, then there
is nothing wrong with telling lies.
Liberals don’t see
individuals. They think only in terms of Marxist class warfare. They
intentionally pit rich against poor, unions against employers, young
verses old, women against men, black against white, etc. It’s all
designed to gain power. To liberal politicians, Black Americans are
just another group to be used and manipulated in order to perpetuate
themselves in power. And in order to maintain control over the African
American community they must perpetuate the lie that the conservative
philosophy is at its core, racist. It matters not a whit to them that
this lie helps to perpetuate black poverty and unemployment. To a
liberal politician or a member of the liberal media, the important thing
is power.
When a Clarence Thomas or Allen West comes along
they lose it. They write articles hoping that Clarence Thomas will get
heart disease and die early. They vehemently utter smears and slander
without regard to accuracy or truth. They organize mobs to throw Oreo
cookies at black conservatives when they run for public office. They
can’t debate on the basis of the merit of new ideas and programs
proposed by conservatives because they know their tired old ideas have
failed and been found wanting. For instance, they know that school
voucher programs for poor people help African Americans lift themselves
up out of poverty, but the threat of losing power with another of their
groups—the labor unions—keep them from supporting such efforts.
Besides, if African Americans really do succeed economically and climb
the ladder of economic success, it will no longer be possible for the
Democrats to count on them in the next election. And remember,
maintaining power is the holy grail of liberalism and their vehicle, the
Democratic Party.
Liberal politicians and their allies in the
news media and in the academy hate and detest Allen West because he is a
threat to their power. It’s time for all conservatives to rally around
Congressman West so that other black conservatives will not be
intimidated from running for and getting elected to Congress in the
years to come. Call the office of Allen West today (202-225-3026) and
let him know that you stand with him.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
A Book You Can’t Put Down
A Book You Can’t Put Down
Most books I have a hard time putting down are thriller novels. Fantasy can grip your attention much quicker than nonfiction books on topics that generally have more redeeming qualities. But recently I came across a little book, Heaven is for Real (Thomas Nelson, 2010), written by Todd Burpo, that I just could not put down. I really didn’t intend to buy it in the first place, but I had listened with one ear to an interview of the author and his son on FOX and Friends some weeks back. I was mildly interested, but not motivated enough to actually order a copy. Then as I was purchasing another book from Amazon, a promo popped up suggesting that I might enjoy this book. I was still not sold, but since the paperback price was under $10, I thought, why not.
Well the book arrived along with some others that I was really interested in purchasing, so it set on my nightstand unopened for more than a month. Finally, while I was participating in a mostly boring conference call, I paged through it and my interest was piqued.
This last weekend I started it in earnest and I literally could not put it down. Except, at one point, I had to put it aside because I was incredulous in regard to a terrible misdiagnosis that is described in the book.
For a first time author, Todd Burpo (from Imperial, Nebraska) does an excellent job of telling an amazing story. I’m not going to spoil it by trying to give you a synopsis, but I am going to strongly urge you to get a copy of this New York Times best seller. You’ll understand why it is a best seller after you read a couple of chapters. It’s only 162 pages long, but I guarantee that you will spend a very enjoyable two hours reading this fine book. It may make you wince, laugh, and cry (I did), but it’s a great, fun, thoughtful, inspiring read.
Be sure and get yourself a copy. (http://heavenisforreal.net/)
Most books I have a hard time putting down are thriller novels. Fantasy can grip your attention much quicker than nonfiction books on topics that generally have more redeeming qualities. But recently I came across a little book, Heaven is for Real (Thomas Nelson, 2010), written by Todd Burpo, that I just could not put down. I really didn’t intend to buy it in the first place, but I had listened with one ear to an interview of the author and his son on FOX and Friends some weeks back. I was mildly interested, but not motivated enough to actually order a copy. Then as I was purchasing another book from Amazon, a promo popped up suggesting that I might enjoy this book. I was still not sold, but since the paperback price was under $10, I thought, why not.
Well the book arrived along with some others that I was really interested in purchasing, so it set on my nightstand unopened for more than a month. Finally, while I was participating in a mostly boring conference call, I paged through it and my interest was piqued.
This last weekend I started it in earnest and I literally could not put it down. Except, at one point, I had to put it aside because I was incredulous in regard to a terrible misdiagnosis that is described in the book.
For a first time author, Todd Burpo (from Imperial, Nebraska) does an excellent job of telling an amazing story. I’m not going to spoil it by trying to give you a synopsis, but I am going to strongly urge you to get a copy of this New York Times best seller. You’ll understand why it is a best seller after you read a couple of chapters. It’s only 162 pages long, but I guarantee that you will spend a very enjoyable two hours reading this fine book. It may make you wince, laugh, and cry (I did), but it’s a great, fun, thoughtful, inspiring read.
Be sure and get yourself a copy. (http://heavenisforreal.net/)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
For the Glory of God
For the Glory of God
I’m a huge fan
of Charles Colson. I believe he is
one of the most articulate and insightful Christian spokesmen of our time. He has spread the Gospel of Jesus
around the globe, in prisons no less, via an organization he founded, Prison
Fellowship (www.prisonfellowship.org).
But, in my opinion, even more
important than that, he has been the clearest advocate for Christians not only
attending church on Sundays, but even more important, living a life in the
shadow of Jesus all week long. He
wants believers to see themselves as co-laborers in a common cause. He advocates a Christian world view
through his books and speeches that encourage readers to live their faith.
That’s a
long-winded way of explaining how I came to read For the Glory of God by Rodney Stark (Copyright 2003 Princeton
University Press). Colson has
written many books worth reading, digesting, and studying and in the course of
reading How Then Shall We Live? (Copyright
1999, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.), Colson’s excellent book on Christian
Living, I found For the Glory of God
as one of his reference works.
After reading For the Glory of God, I can see why
Colson used this as background source.
Rodney Stark is not only a very good writer, he is also a scholar whose
presentation captivates the reader.
His subtitle is, “How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science,
Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery.”
For the Glory of God is the second
volume of a two volume work on the history and legacy of the Christian church. The first volume is titled, One True God: Historical Consequences of Monotheism. It is on my future reading list.
Although I
have been a life-long Christian, a sometimes student of the Bible, and an avid
reader, I confess that prior to reading this book I was an illiterate when it
came to the history of Christianity.
I really didn’t know how the church developed after Biblical times. A disciplined sociologist, Rodney
Stark, presents a great picture of the post apostolic Christian church (post
apostolic in terms of there being any Apostles still alive).
Stark explains
from a sociological perspective why polytheism was destined to die out and why
Christian monotheism was so attractive to the Romans. In the introduction he argues that…
“…theological assumptions unique to Christianity explain why science
was born only in Christian Europe.
Contrary to the received wisdom, religion and science not only were
compatible; they were inseparable.”
Further along
in the introduction, he points out the irony that a number of those who were active
in the witch-hunts also…
“…played leading roles in declaring that slavery was an abomination in
the eyes of God. It was that
conclusion, and only that conclusion, that enabled the West to abolish slavery. In fact, slavery was abolished in much
of the non-Western world only because of Western pressure and interference—and
slavery continues in some non-Christian areas.”
Stark also
explains…
“…why
Christians reached this profoundly important conclusion and Muslims did not.”
You’ll find
out in the book why the terms you learned in Junior High and High School,
“Enlightenment” and “Dark Ages,” are no longer found in most modern history
text books. The terms were
constructions of individuals who had an agenda to convey in writing history,
but are now known to be so utterly false that scholars have removed them from
use in current works.
He writes of
the battles of the “pious” Catholic Church versus the “power” Church and where
they succeeded and where they failed.
He tells the story of the “reformations” that were continually taking
place within the Catholic Church and why the more dramatic reformation of Huss,
Luther and Calvin actually resulted in a break with the church.
I am actually
reading two other books by Mr. Stark right now and I must tell you that he
writes so evenly that I could not tell you today if he is a Baptist, a
Catholic, or something else. I can
tell you that his books are well-researched, thoroughly documented, and well
reasoned.
I learned much
from this book and I intend to explore all the other books he has written in
this area. If you want to know
about the history of Christianity after Biblical times and to appreciate the
legacy of the Christian faith in terms of culture, science, and even economics,
then I heartedly recommend that you get a copy of this book or any other book
by Mr. Stark.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
An Assault on Hard Working Americans
An Assault on Hard Working Americans
There’s a lot of talk about the high taxes that Americans pay and of course, taxes are high, way too high. As the late Jack Kemp used to say, if you subsidize something you get more of it; if you tax something you get less of it. The record shows that the higher the taxes become, the higher unemployment is and the weaker our economy is. Higher taxes mean less jobs and less freedom. There’s no mystery here. The record is clear.
But today there is something else that is hurting hard working Americans more than taxes. By hard working Americans, I’m talking about blue collar and white collar Americans who work hard. They learned, in spite of liberal denials to the contrary, that the way to get ahead in the United States is to work hard and long hours. Some even take big risks and start companies of their own, and thanks to their hard work and God’s blessings, some succeed. And when they do, everyone benefits.
These bedrock citizens learned early on to play by the rules, keep their nose clean, and work extra hard to get ahead. When they were in grade school and high school they had fun, but they read the assignment, did their homework, and probably had a job after school. The belief that they could get ahead and succeed in life was undoubtedly passed along to them by their parents and hopefully reinforced by a teacher or two. Their parents lived better than their grandparents, and their grandparents better than their great grandparents. Now they hope to do the same. But now, they tell us, the American dream must come to an end.
This sad state of affairs is caused by government. Not only has President Obama (and his henchmen in Congress—Reid and Pelosi) taken the nation to the brink of economic collapse, they have knowingly and intentionally steered the nation down a path that leads to reduced prosperity and affluence for all Americans. They are embarrassed by the fact that the United States of America is the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world and they are intent on bringing America and Americans down. They believe America deserves it. You and I deserve it. Our children deserve it. Our grandchildren deserve it.
Although it runs counter to the reality in front of their eyes, they believe that somehow America has achieved prosperity and greatness on the backs of others. They believe freedom and economics are both a zero sum game. In other words, if I have more freedom, you must have less. If I have more money, you must have less. They have rejected the foundational principle of limited government, they have distaste for the founding fathers, they look upon Christianity as the enemy, and they believe that the United States is a corrupt, bully nation that doesn’t deserve respect, honor, and admiration, as you and I and millions that came before us do.
It’s hard to understand. As millions of people try to get into the United States and envy the prosperity of our nation—both its breadth and depth—they see the US through bitter and jealous distorted glasses. Their hard left ideology demands that they ignore reality and push the nation into second class status. They want to see the US become a second rate power like the failed socialist states of Europe. And they have found a way besides punishing taxes to do just that.
Today young and middle aged and even older American citizens are being hurt financially more by government regulations than they are by anything else. The price is enormous. The United States of America is the most energy rich nation in the world, yet we live like energy paupers.
Instead of a gasoline price of one dollar per gallon or less at the pump, we pay nearly four dollars per gallon. And the price of diesel is nearly as bad. This intentional effort to raise the price of fuel (including heating fuel) is driving up the cost of everything in America and it especially hurts young families who are just getting started in life.
They don’t just pay at the gas pump, they pay sky high prices for heating oil and natural gas. They pay outrageous prices for cooling their house in the summer. Their clothes cost more due to transportation costs and the higher cost of petroleum products used in fabrics themselves. Groceries cost more due to higher shipping costs. Everything we buy is at an inflated cost because the Obama Administration is blocking the expanded production of oil and natural gas.
It’s no accident that prices have risen. The President has made it abundantly clear that he would be delighted with European gasoline prices of $10-$15 per gallon. It is only because he is facing a tough re-election campaign that the President has given lip service to the fracking breakthrough, but it’s just lip service.
This Administration has no intention of allowing the unlimited and unrestricted production of oil that will drive down prices. An unlimited supply of oil will not meet their objective of forcing you into a little and very unsafe car or out of your home into a small condo. They want to reduce your standard of living.
They really don’t want America to prosper. They don’t want you to live better than your parents, or your children to live better than you do. What other explanation is there for running up deficits that will be paid for by your children and grandchildren, or instituting Obamacare, or blocking the production of oil and gas? They only give lip service to the idea of increased prosperity in election years. They don’t care about the fact that millions of Americans are out of work, except for the fact that it might damage their re-election chances. We have a generation of leaders who don’t believe in the American dream, don’t see the United States as exceptional, aren’t proud to be Americans, and really just don’t like our nation.
The 2012 election is critically important. The United States has reached a tipping point. In 2012 we will either turn back this threat to our freedom and prosperity or our nation will begin an irreversible slide toward totalitarianism.
The founders risked everything to secure freedom for future generations of Americans. They put their lives and their fortunes on the line and some lost both. Do we have that depth of commitment to freedom that they had in 1776? Will God continue to bless America?
Not since 1776 has our nation faced as great a challenge as this one. Not even in the depths of World War II was the threat to our freedom and liberty as great as it is today.
Thomas Paine wrote,
“THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer
soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink
from the service of their country; but he that stands by it
now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have
this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the
more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap,
we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives
every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper
price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so
celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly
rated.”
It’s 1776 all over again. Will our children live in freedom and prosper, or will they become serfs of the state? That’s the decision in 2012. Let’s work as if it all depends on us to turn our nation back to the principles of freedom and justice, because it does.
There’s a lot of talk about the high taxes that Americans pay and of course, taxes are high, way too high. As the late Jack Kemp used to say, if you subsidize something you get more of it; if you tax something you get less of it. The record shows that the higher the taxes become, the higher unemployment is and the weaker our economy is. Higher taxes mean less jobs and less freedom. There’s no mystery here. The record is clear.
But today there is something else that is hurting hard working Americans more than taxes. By hard working Americans, I’m talking about blue collar and white collar Americans who work hard. They learned, in spite of liberal denials to the contrary, that the way to get ahead in the United States is to work hard and long hours. Some even take big risks and start companies of their own, and thanks to their hard work and God’s blessings, some succeed. And when they do, everyone benefits.
These bedrock citizens learned early on to play by the rules, keep their nose clean, and work extra hard to get ahead. When they were in grade school and high school they had fun, but they read the assignment, did their homework, and probably had a job after school. The belief that they could get ahead and succeed in life was undoubtedly passed along to them by their parents and hopefully reinforced by a teacher or two. Their parents lived better than their grandparents, and their grandparents better than their great grandparents. Now they hope to do the same. But now, they tell us, the American dream must come to an end.
This sad state of affairs is caused by government. Not only has President Obama (and his henchmen in Congress—Reid and Pelosi) taken the nation to the brink of economic collapse, they have knowingly and intentionally steered the nation down a path that leads to reduced prosperity and affluence for all Americans. They are embarrassed by the fact that the United States of America is the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world and they are intent on bringing America and Americans down. They believe America deserves it. You and I deserve it. Our children deserve it. Our grandchildren deserve it.
Although it runs counter to the reality in front of their eyes, they believe that somehow America has achieved prosperity and greatness on the backs of others. They believe freedom and economics are both a zero sum game. In other words, if I have more freedom, you must have less. If I have more money, you must have less. They have rejected the foundational principle of limited government, they have distaste for the founding fathers, they look upon Christianity as the enemy, and they believe that the United States is a corrupt, bully nation that doesn’t deserve respect, honor, and admiration, as you and I and millions that came before us do.
It’s hard to understand. As millions of people try to get into the United States and envy the prosperity of our nation—both its breadth and depth—they see the US through bitter and jealous distorted glasses. Their hard left ideology demands that they ignore reality and push the nation into second class status. They want to see the US become a second rate power like the failed socialist states of Europe. And they have found a way besides punishing taxes to do just that.
Today young and middle aged and even older American citizens are being hurt financially more by government regulations than they are by anything else. The price is enormous. The United States of America is the most energy rich nation in the world, yet we live like energy paupers.
Instead of a gasoline price of one dollar per gallon or less at the pump, we pay nearly four dollars per gallon. And the price of diesel is nearly as bad. This intentional effort to raise the price of fuel (including heating fuel) is driving up the cost of everything in America and it especially hurts young families who are just getting started in life.
They don’t just pay at the gas pump, they pay sky high prices for heating oil and natural gas. They pay outrageous prices for cooling their house in the summer. Their clothes cost more due to transportation costs and the higher cost of petroleum products used in fabrics themselves. Groceries cost more due to higher shipping costs. Everything we buy is at an inflated cost because the Obama Administration is blocking the expanded production of oil and natural gas.
It’s no accident that prices have risen. The President has made it abundantly clear that he would be delighted with European gasoline prices of $10-$15 per gallon. It is only because he is facing a tough re-election campaign that the President has given lip service to the fracking breakthrough, but it’s just lip service.
This Administration has no intention of allowing the unlimited and unrestricted production of oil that will drive down prices. An unlimited supply of oil will not meet their objective of forcing you into a little and very unsafe car or out of your home into a small condo. They want to reduce your standard of living.
They really don’t want America to prosper. They don’t want you to live better than your parents, or your children to live better than you do. What other explanation is there for running up deficits that will be paid for by your children and grandchildren, or instituting Obamacare, or blocking the production of oil and gas? They only give lip service to the idea of increased prosperity in election years. They don’t care about the fact that millions of Americans are out of work, except for the fact that it might damage their re-election chances. We have a generation of leaders who don’t believe in the American dream, don’t see the United States as exceptional, aren’t proud to be Americans, and really just don’t like our nation.
The 2012 election is critically important. The United States has reached a tipping point. In 2012 we will either turn back this threat to our freedom and prosperity or our nation will begin an irreversible slide toward totalitarianism.
The founders risked everything to secure freedom for future generations of Americans. They put their lives and their fortunes on the line and some lost both. Do we have that depth of commitment to freedom that they had in 1776? Will God continue to bless America?
Not since 1776 has our nation faced as great a challenge as this one. Not even in the depths of World War II was the threat to our freedom and liberty as great as it is today.
Thomas Paine wrote,
“THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer
soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink
from the service of their country; but he that stands by it
now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have
this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the
more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap,
we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives
every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper
price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so
celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly
rated.”
It’s 1776 all over again. Will our children live in freedom and prosper, or will they become serfs of the state? That’s the decision in 2012. Let’s work as if it all depends on us to turn our nation back to the principles of freedom and justice, because it does.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Ready to Drive a Smart Car or a Mini Cooper?
Ready to Drive a Smart Car or a Mini Cooper?
Don’t get me wrong. If you choose to purchase and drive a Smart Car or a Mini Cooper then by all means please feel free to do so. I believe everyone should be able to drive the car of their dreams whether it is a muscle car, a big SUV, a luxury automobile, a study sedan, or whatever you choose. That’s what freedom is all about, that’s what being an American is all about, or at least has been about until the current Administration came along.
Sometimes I think the folks who populate this Administration have rocks in their heads. What are they thinking? Why are they so intent on reducing the American standard of living? Where did they get the idea that because America prospers, others don’t?
Just the opposite is true. The more America prospers, the more other countries and other peoples benefit. The United States is the economic engine of the world and if President Obama succeeds in lowering our standard of American living, other nations and people all around the globe will suffer accordingly.
Economics is not a zero sum game. When two free people decide to exchange their products with each other, both benefit. When a man who builds rocking chairs and a man who grows oranges live freely, they can decide to exchange their products and both benefit. The orange grower who wants a rocking chair and the rocking chair builder who wants to eat oranges can freely exchange one for another and both smile and benefit. Dollars are simply a representation of the many goods and services created and when I use my dollars to buy oranges or a rocking chair, I’m simply exchanging the value of the goods and services I create for someone else’s goods and services. It’s all about freedom.
But when government intervenes and decides that I can only buy certain oranges or rocking chairs that meet certain specifications, they diminish my choices and thus my freedom. Government intervention into the marketplace always diminishes freedom and makes goods and services more costly. Always. There are no exceptions.
But let’s get back to Smart Cars and Mini Coopers. In the Monday, June 27th edition of the Wall Street Journal, there was an article on page A3 that caught my attention. Titled, Your Mileage May Vary, this piece announced the White House proposal that the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards be increased to 56.2 miles per gallon by 2025. This is a dumb idea for many reasons, but in my book the worst part of it is the fact that the government wants to once again reduce your personal freedom. This government, this Administration, has zero concern about reducing freedom. They just don’t care.
It means you won’t be able to choose to buy the car or van or truck you want. Instead, you will be forced to purchase something like a Smart Car or a Mini Cooper because that will be all the government will allow to be produced and purchased. That’s an outrage.
It all springs from the same dumb liberal idea that a small group of self-styled intellectuals should decide how you should live instead of you deciding how you should live. It means no more Corvettes, 400 HP Mustangs, no Suburbans, no SUVs, and no nice big luxury cars (except for the big government bosses, of course). Just like the Soviet Union, the government bosses who create nothing, add nothing, and live off of the efforts of those who do create and build, will live like princes, while you and I settle for what they decide we shall have the opportunity to drive.
I said this was a dumb idea for a number of reasons and it is. Another reason it is dumb is that you cannot legislate or bureaucratically mandate (since this Administration has a proclivity for ignoring the Constitution and bypassing Congress) scientific advances. Legislating or mandating an average gas mileage of 56.2 miles per gallon simply means smaller, lighter and clearly more dangerous automobiles. It means driving little, underpowered, undersized automobiles like they do in Europe. They have already removed spare tires from new cars just to reduce weight and meet the arbitrary government CAFE standards.
It’s what Obama wants. He wants you and me to lower our standard of living by forcing Socialism on us. It has absolutely nothing to do with pollution or global warming or any other imagined or real problem. It’s all about control over your life and mine. He and other self-styled decision makers believe they know better than you do how you should live.
Obama has made it clear that he would be delighted if gasoline prices slowly rise to those of Europe. Earlier this year I was in Italy and the price of gasoline was $13 (US) per gallon. Much of that cost was related to gargantuan taxes on gasoline. Regulations like CAFE regulations cost young people and those just entering the business world more than all the taxes imposed by big government. It hurts your children and ultimately your grandchildren more than it does you.
Another thing wrong with this idea is that today the United States has the world’s largest known combined reserves of oil and natural gas. That’s known reserves. And with the advent of fracking, we now have access to billions of cubic feet of natural gas and billions of gallons of oil (“fracking” refers to the new process of recovering oil and gas from shale). We have vast resources in Alaska, offshore and within federally owned land. If government would get out of the way the price of gas at the pump would be no more than a dollar per gallon.
There is no purpose whatsoever to raising the CAFE standards. None. In fact, the very idea that government can tell a private business how a product it produces must perform is of questionable Constitutionality. In fact, I suspect that there is no Constitutional basis for such governmental authority. But more to the point, the CAFE standards should be eliminated entirely. If you want to drive a car that burns more gasoline per mile and I want to buy one that burns less per mile, that’s your business and my business, not the business of some government busybody.
If the government would simply get out of the way and let the free market work, we could see an early return to prosperity. It is unreasonable to think that a few people, even if they are über smart, can make better decisions than free people deciding for themselves what to buy, what to drive, what to wear, what to eat, where to go, and who to worship. It’s the silliest and most dangerous idea ever conceived by man and it always leads to serfdom.
The American dream is dying. The idea of the United States as the land of opportunity is dying. It’s being killed off by folks who think this nation has prospered by stealing the wealth of other nations. While Obama can’t blame Americans for colonialism, he calls us neo-colonists. In other words, we may never have held colonies, but through our economic might we have raped and pillaged the wealth of other nations.
It’s nuts, but that’s what he and his liberal friends believe. They believe that our economic system has exploited the poor in order for you and me to prosper. The truth is that the United States of America has been not only the most free and most prosperous nation in the world, but also the most compassionate and generous nation in the world. Unique in the history, we have shared our wealth with other nations as no other people ever have. We have been peacemakers, while others have been aggressors. And when, in the lead up to World War II, Germany’s National Socialist Party (NAZI) attacked their neighbors, we came to their rescue. Then after WWII the United States of America did something that had never been done before. We not only gave aid to our allies so they could rebuild, but we also generously gave aid to our enemies to help them rebuild. It was totally unprecedented. In fact, while we were providing help to those in need, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) under Stalin enslaved millions of people.
In today’s world there is always a choice—either socialism or freedom. What will that choice be?
Don’t get me wrong. If you choose to purchase and drive a Smart Car or a Mini Cooper then by all means please feel free to do so. I believe everyone should be able to drive the car of their dreams whether it is a muscle car, a big SUV, a luxury automobile, a study sedan, or whatever you choose. That’s what freedom is all about, that’s what being an American is all about, or at least has been about until the current Administration came along.
Sometimes I think the folks who populate this Administration have rocks in their heads. What are they thinking? Why are they so intent on reducing the American standard of living? Where did they get the idea that because America prospers, others don’t?
Just the opposite is true. The more America prospers, the more other countries and other peoples benefit. The United States is the economic engine of the world and if President Obama succeeds in lowering our standard of American living, other nations and people all around the globe will suffer accordingly.
Economics is not a zero sum game. When two free people decide to exchange their products with each other, both benefit. When a man who builds rocking chairs and a man who grows oranges live freely, they can decide to exchange their products and both benefit. The orange grower who wants a rocking chair and the rocking chair builder who wants to eat oranges can freely exchange one for another and both smile and benefit. Dollars are simply a representation of the many goods and services created and when I use my dollars to buy oranges or a rocking chair, I’m simply exchanging the value of the goods and services I create for someone else’s goods and services. It’s all about freedom.
But when government intervenes and decides that I can only buy certain oranges or rocking chairs that meet certain specifications, they diminish my choices and thus my freedom. Government intervention into the marketplace always diminishes freedom and makes goods and services more costly. Always. There are no exceptions.
But let’s get back to Smart Cars and Mini Coopers. In the Monday, June 27th edition of the Wall Street Journal, there was an article on page A3 that caught my attention. Titled, Your Mileage May Vary, this piece announced the White House proposal that the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards be increased to 56.2 miles per gallon by 2025. This is a dumb idea for many reasons, but in my book the worst part of it is the fact that the government wants to once again reduce your personal freedom. This government, this Administration, has zero concern about reducing freedom. They just don’t care.
It means you won’t be able to choose to buy the car or van or truck you want. Instead, you will be forced to purchase something like a Smart Car or a Mini Cooper because that will be all the government will allow to be produced and purchased. That’s an outrage.
It all springs from the same dumb liberal idea that a small group of self-styled intellectuals should decide how you should live instead of you deciding how you should live. It means no more Corvettes, 400 HP Mustangs, no Suburbans, no SUVs, and no nice big luxury cars (except for the big government bosses, of course). Just like the Soviet Union, the government bosses who create nothing, add nothing, and live off of the efforts of those who do create and build, will live like princes, while you and I settle for what they decide we shall have the opportunity to drive.
I said this was a dumb idea for a number of reasons and it is. Another reason it is dumb is that you cannot legislate or bureaucratically mandate (since this Administration has a proclivity for ignoring the Constitution and bypassing Congress) scientific advances. Legislating or mandating an average gas mileage of 56.2 miles per gallon simply means smaller, lighter and clearly more dangerous automobiles. It means driving little, underpowered, undersized automobiles like they do in Europe. They have already removed spare tires from new cars just to reduce weight and meet the arbitrary government CAFE standards.
It’s what Obama wants. He wants you and me to lower our standard of living by forcing Socialism on us. It has absolutely nothing to do with pollution or global warming or any other imagined or real problem. It’s all about control over your life and mine. He and other self-styled decision makers believe they know better than you do how you should live.
Obama has made it clear that he would be delighted if gasoline prices slowly rise to those of Europe. Earlier this year I was in Italy and the price of gasoline was $13 (US) per gallon. Much of that cost was related to gargantuan taxes on gasoline. Regulations like CAFE regulations cost young people and those just entering the business world more than all the taxes imposed by big government. It hurts your children and ultimately your grandchildren more than it does you.
Another thing wrong with this idea is that today the United States has the world’s largest known combined reserves of oil and natural gas. That’s known reserves. And with the advent of fracking, we now have access to billions of cubic feet of natural gas and billions of gallons of oil (“fracking” refers to the new process of recovering oil and gas from shale). We have vast resources in Alaska, offshore and within federally owned land. If government would get out of the way the price of gas at the pump would be no more than a dollar per gallon.
There is no purpose whatsoever to raising the CAFE standards. None. In fact, the very idea that government can tell a private business how a product it produces must perform is of questionable Constitutionality. In fact, I suspect that there is no Constitutional basis for such governmental authority. But more to the point, the CAFE standards should be eliminated entirely. If you want to drive a car that burns more gasoline per mile and I want to buy one that burns less per mile, that’s your business and my business, not the business of some government busybody.
If the government would simply get out of the way and let the free market work, we could see an early return to prosperity. It is unreasonable to think that a few people, even if they are über smart, can make better decisions than free people deciding for themselves what to buy, what to drive, what to wear, what to eat, where to go, and who to worship. It’s the silliest and most dangerous idea ever conceived by man and it always leads to serfdom.
The American dream is dying. The idea of the United States as the land of opportunity is dying. It’s being killed off by folks who think this nation has prospered by stealing the wealth of other nations. While Obama can’t blame Americans for colonialism, he calls us neo-colonists. In other words, we may never have held colonies, but through our economic might we have raped and pillaged the wealth of other nations.
It’s nuts, but that’s what he and his liberal friends believe. They believe that our economic system has exploited the poor in order for you and me to prosper. The truth is that the United States of America has been not only the most free and most prosperous nation in the world, but also the most compassionate and generous nation in the world. Unique in the history, we have shared our wealth with other nations as no other people ever have. We have been peacemakers, while others have been aggressors. And when, in the lead up to World War II, Germany’s National Socialist Party (NAZI) attacked their neighbors, we came to their rescue. Then after WWII the United States of America did something that had never been done before. We not only gave aid to our allies so they could rebuild, but we also generously gave aid to our enemies to help them rebuild. It was totally unprecedented. In fact, while we were providing help to those in need, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) under Stalin enslaved millions of people.
In today’s world there is always a choice—either socialism or freedom. What will that choice be?
Friday, June 24, 2011
The Deniers
The Deniers
The Deniers (Richard Vigilante Books 2008) by Lawrence Solomon is a very good book. I doubt that I would agree with Mr. Solomon on any political topic, but this is an amazingly even handed, fair book. The blurb on the dustcover of the book describes Lawrence Solomon as “a world renowned environmentalist, author, and activist [who] has been at the forefront of movements to stop nuclear power expansion and to save the world’s rainforests.” He is active in Energy Probe, a group that not only opposes the development of nuclear power, but also opposes all hydro-electric plant development. This is how Mr. Solomon describes Energy Probe.
“Energy Probe had long been concerned about the global warming issue. We are
primarily advocates of conservation and renewal energy as alternatives to fossil
fuels, large hydro dams, and nuclear power. We are also a peace group concerned
with stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world. In the late
1980’s, we also were among the very first organizations in Canada to sound the
alarm on global warming. And both Energy Probe and Probe International
developed proposals for minimizing the threat of global warming.”
Mr. Solomon is, by profession, a columnist with National Post (Toronto) and author of half a dozen books. But, in my mind, what sets Mr. Solomon apart from the pack is his unswerving commitment to fairness and objectivity in writing on this topic.
In this book Mr. Solomon addresses the issue as to whether those who take issue with all or part of the Global Warming debate are “kooks or crooks.” Are they as Al Gore says of them…
“Fifteen percent of the people believe the moon landing was staged on some movie
lot and a somewhat smaller number still believe the earth is flat. They all get
together on a Saturday night and party with the global warming deniers.”
Moreover, Mr. Solomon directly addresses the issue as to whether Global Warming is, as Al Gore and the minions on the left say “settled science.”
As Mr. Solomon accurately points out, “The very term ‘deniers’ is a deliberate reference to the ‘Holocaust deniers’ who defend the Nazi regime by claiming that Jews and their allies faked the Holocaust to slander Hitler.” It is, in other words, a very heavy handed, mean, and slanderous description if the description is untrue.
The book consists primarily of the outcome of interviews with “deniers,” i.e. those who do not believe all of or any of the explanation of global warming is true, or at least that man has caused global warming. It is a fascinating read. And, as Mr. Solomon warns early on, many of these “deniers” disagree with each other.
Here is a partial listing and partial bios of the folks discussed in this book…
* Dr. Edward Wegman. In 1978 became the head of the Mathematical Sciences Division of
Naval Research, coined the phrase computational statistics. He was the original program
director of the basic research program in Ultra High Speed Computing at the Strategic
Defense Initiate’s Innovative Science and Technology Office and is a member of the Board of
The American Statistical Association, a past president of the International Association of
Statistical Computing, and a past chairman of the Committee on Applied and Theoretical
Statistics of the National Academy of Sciences
* Dr. Richard Tol. Dr. Tol is the Michael Otto Professor of Sustainability and Global Change
and director of the Center for Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Hamburg University,
principal researcher at the Institute for Environmental Studies at Vrije University, and adjunct
professor at the Center for Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change at
Carnegie Mellon University.
* Dr. Christopher Landsea. He is a research meteorologist at the Atlantic Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration, he was chair of the American Meteorological Society’s
Committee on Tropical Meteorology and Tropical Cyclones and a recipient of the American
Meteorological Society’s Banner I. Miller Award.
* Dr. Duncan Wingham. In 1996 he was appointed chair of the Department of Space and
Climate Physics, University College, London and made head of the Department of Earth
Sciences in 2005. He is a member of the National Environmental Research Council’s
(NERC) Science and Technology Board and Earth Observation Experts Group. He serves
as principal scientist of the European Space Agency CryoSat Satellite Mission.
* Dr. Richard Lindzen. A past professor at the University of Chicago and Harvard, he is the
Alfred P. Sloan professor of meteorology at MIT, a member of the National Academy of
Sciences, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a
member of the National Research Council Board on the Atmospheric Sciences and Climate.
* Dr. Syun-Ichi Akasofu. Founding director of the International Arctic Research Center of the
University of Alaska Fairbanks and has published more than 550 professional journal articles
and authored or co-authored ten books. Twice named one of the “1,000 Most Cited
Scientists” and honored by the Royal Astronomical Society of London, the Japan Academy
of Sciences, and the American Geophysical Union.
* Dr. David Bromwich. Head of the Polar Meteorology Group of the Byrd Polar Research
Center and professor in the Atmospheric Sciences Program at the Department of Geography
of Ohio State University. He is president of the International Commission on Polar
Meteorology, the chair of the Polar DAAC Advisory Group, a member of the Arctic climate
System Study Working Group on Reanalysis, and a past member of the National Academy
of Sciences.
* Dr. Eigil Friis-Christensen. Director of the Danish National Space Center. Member of the
Space Research Advisory Committee of the Swedish National Board from 1998 to 2006.
He is author or co-author of some 100 peer reviewed articles and has presented more than
50 invited papers at international conferences.
* Dr. Henrik Svensmark. Director of the Center for Sun-Climate Research at the Danish
National Space Center. Has held post-doctoral positions in physics at the University of
California Berkeley. Recipient of the Knud Hojgaard Anniversary Research Prize.
* Dr. Habibullo Abdussamatov. The head of the space research laboratory of the Russian
Academy of Sciences’ Pulkovo Observatory and of the International Space Station’s
Astrometria project.
* Dr. William Gray. Heads the University’s Tropical Meteorology Project, which publishes
yearly forecasts for tropical storms, named storms, typhoons, hurricanes, and intense
hurricanes.
I think you get the idea. These are some of the most respected scientists in the entire world. But they are just a small representation of the more than 100 world renowned scientists that Mr. Solomon has met or talked with. Each one of them takes issue with some aspect of the idea of man caused global warming and each one of them has world class scientific credentials.
Did their arguments sway Mr. Solomon? They did not. He says in his book…
“Have my deniers convinced me that global warming is all a hoax? They have not,
despite my admiration for the courage and integrity that so many of them display,
and despite their impeccable credentials, I might add, that are often far more
impressive than those of some of the gurus propounding climate-change
catastrophes.”
In regard to global warming, Mr. Solomon concludes…
“It is one environmental concern among many, whose science is far from settled.”
And my last word is, be sure and read this book. It provides an even handed, fair analysis of the theory of man caused global warming. It’s well written, well documented and the science explanations are understandable to a layman of which I am certainly one. Anyone with an open and fair mind will enjoy reading this book. It will challenge you to think. And, at least once in a while, that’s a good thing.
The Deniers (Richard Vigilante Books 2008) by Lawrence Solomon is a very good book. I doubt that I would agree with Mr. Solomon on any political topic, but this is an amazingly even handed, fair book. The blurb on the dustcover of the book describes Lawrence Solomon as “a world renowned environmentalist, author, and activist [who] has been at the forefront of movements to stop nuclear power expansion and to save the world’s rainforests.” He is active in Energy Probe, a group that not only opposes the development of nuclear power, but also opposes all hydro-electric plant development. This is how Mr. Solomon describes Energy Probe.
“Energy Probe had long been concerned about the global warming issue. We are
primarily advocates of conservation and renewal energy as alternatives to fossil
fuels, large hydro dams, and nuclear power. We are also a peace group concerned
with stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world. In the late
1980’s, we also were among the very first organizations in Canada to sound the
alarm on global warming. And both Energy Probe and Probe International
developed proposals for minimizing the threat of global warming.”
Mr. Solomon is, by profession, a columnist with National Post (Toronto) and author of half a dozen books. But, in my mind, what sets Mr. Solomon apart from the pack is his unswerving commitment to fairness and objectivity in writing on this topic.
In this book Mr. Solomon addresses the issue as to whether those who take issue with all or part of the Global Warming debate are “kooks or crooks.” Are they as Al Gore says of them…
“Fifteen percent of the people believe the moon landing was staged on some movie
lot and a somewhat smaller number still believe the earth is flat. They all get
together on a Saturday night and party with the global warming deniers.”
Moreover, Mr. Solomon directly addresses the issue as to whether Global Warming is, as Al Gore and the minions on the left say “settled science.”
As Mr. Solomon accurately points out, “The very term ‘deniers’ is a deliberate reference to the ‘Holocaust deniers’ who defend the Nazi regime by claiming that Jews and their allies faked the Holocaust to slander Hitler.” It is, in other words, a very heavy handed, mean, and slanderous description if the description is untrue.
The book consists primarily of the outcome of interviews with “deniers,” i.e. those who do not believe all of or any of the explanation of global warming is true, or at least that man has caused global warming. It is a fascinating read. And, as Mr. Solomon warns early on, many of these “deniers” disagree with each other.
Here is a partial listing and partial bios of the folks discussed in this book…
* Dr. Edward Wegman. In 1978 became the head of the Mathematical Sciences Division of
Naval Research, coined the phrase computational statistics. He was the original program
director of the basic research program in Ultra High Speed Computing at the Strategic
Defense Initiate’s Innovative Science and Technology Office and is a member of the Board of
The American Statistical Association, a past president of the International Association of
Statistical Computing, and a past chairman of the Committee on Applied and Theoretical
Statistics of the National Academy of Sciences
* Dr. Richard Tol. Dr. Tol is the Michael Otto Professor of Sustainability and Global Change
and director of the Center for Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Hamburg University,
principal researcher at the Institute for Environmental Studies at Vrije University, and adjunct
professor at the Center for Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change at
Carnegie Mellon University.
* Dr. Christopher Landsea. He is a research meteorologist at the Atlantic Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration, he was chair of the American Meteorological Society’s
Committee on Tropical Meteorology and Tropical Cyclones and a recipient of the American
Meteorological Society’s Banner I. Miller Award.
* Dr. Duncan Wingham. In 1996 he was appointed chair of the Department of Space and
Climate Physics, University College, London and made head of the Department of Earth
Sciences in 2005. He is a member of the National Environmental Research Council’s
(NERC) Science and Technology Board and Earth Observation Experts Group. He serves
as principal scientist of the European Space Agency CryoSat Satellite Mission.
* Dr. Richard Lindzen. A past professor at the University of Chicago and Harvard, he is the
Alfred P. Sloan professor of meteorology at MIT, a member of the National Academy of
Sciences, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a
member of the National Research Council Board on the Atmospheric Sciences and Climate.
* Dr. Syun-Ichi Akasofu. Founding director of the International Arctic Research Center of the
University of Alaska Fairbanks and has published more than 550 professional journal articles
and authored or co-authored ten books. Twice named one of the “1,000 Most Cited
Scientists” and honored by the Royal Astronomical Society of London, the Japan Academy
of Sciences, and the American Geophysical Union.
* Dr. David Bromwich. Head of the Polar Meteorology Group of the Byrd Polar Research
Center and professor in the Atmospheric Sciences Program at the Department of Geography
of Ohio State University. He is president of the International Commission on Polar
Meteorology, the chair of the Polar DAAC Advisory Group, a member of the Arctic climate
System Study Working Group on Reanalysis, and a past member of the National Academy
of Sciences.
* Dr. Eigil Friis-Christensen. Director of the Danish National Space Center. Member of the
Space Research Advisory Committee of the Swedish National Board from 1998 to 2006.
He is author or co-author of some 100 peer reviewed articles and has presented more than
50 invited papers at international conferences.
* Dr. Henrik Svensmark. Director of the Center for Sun-Climate Research at the Danish
National Space Center. Has held post-doctoral positions in physics at the University of
California Berkeley. Recipient of the Knud Hojgaard Anniversary Research Prize.
* Dr. Habibullo Abdussamatov. The head of the space research laboratory of the Russian
Academy of Sciences’ Pulkovo Observatory and of the International Space Station’s
Astrometria project.
* Dr. William Gray. Heads the University’s Tropical Meteorology Project, which publishes
yearly forecasts for tropical storms, named storms, typhoons, hurricanes, and intense
hurricanes.
I think you get the idea. These are some of the most respected scientists in the entire world. But they are just a small representation of the more than 100 world renowned scientists that Mr. Solomon has met or talked with. Each one of them takes issue with some aspect of the idea of man caused global warming and each one of them has world class scientific credentials.
Did their arguments sway Mr. Solomon? They did not. He says in his book…
“Have my deniers convinced me that global warming is all a hoax? They have not,
despite my admiration for the courage and integrity that so many of them display,
and despite their impeccable credentials, I might add, that are often far more
impressive than those of some of the gurus propounding climate-change
catastrophes.”
In regard to global warming, Mr. Solomon concludes…
“It is one environmental concern among many, whose science is far from settled.”
And my last word is, be sure and read this book. It provides an even handed, fair analysis of the theory of man caused global warming. It’s well written, well documented and the science explanations are understandable to a layman of which I am certainly one. Anyone with an open and fair mind will enjoy reading this book. It will challenge you to think. And, at least once in a while, that’s a good thing.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Jim DeMint & the Plan Save Our Republic from Insolvency
Jim DeMint & the Plan Save Our Republic from Insolvency
The other evening I had an opportunity to speak with one of my heroes, United States Senator Jim DeMint, a true American statesman. DeMint is a rare bird in Washington, DC—a man of character, courage, and principle. His first principle is to follow the words of the United States Constitution as they were written. Obviously, that’s not always easy to do, but it is what members of Congress (and those in both the Executive Branch and Judicial branch) take an oath to do. It’s not easy, but neither is it as hard as liberal politicians and judges pretend it is. After all, the Constitution is a written document of principles intended to limit the power of government and to ensure that power is shared by the three branches. Its philosophy is built upon a clear and accurate understanding of human nature—men and women are imperfect human beings who, if given the opportunity, will seek power over other human beings through the aegis of government as they have done from the beginning of time. Senator Jim DeMint understands and is committed to the same understanding as our Founding Fathers. He states his case for a commitment to the founding principles found in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution in his excellent book, Saving Freedom. It is a book that every American should read.
While lesser men come to Washington and get swallowed up in the heady power of being a Senator or Congressman, Jim DeMint has not lost his way. He can be counted on to take principled stands that frequently rankle the leadership of the Republican Party. Thanks in no small part to Jim DeMint, Marco Rubio is the US Senator from Florida, not RINO Charlie Crist; Rand Paul is the US Senator from Kentucky, not career politician, Trey Grayson; and Mike Lee is the US Senator from Utah, not Bob Bennett. It takes a huge amount of courage to buck the leadership of the Republican Party. Jim DeMint did it and won.
Now, Jim DeMint is in the forefront of the battle to block raising the debt ceiling unless permanent action is taken to make sure this never happens again. And this time, the leadership of both the House and the Senate is four square behind Senator DeMint. He spoke of his plan the other evening at the reception I attended and here is what he and fellow conservatives have proposed…
A Balanced Budget and Spending Limit Amendment to the US Constitution
This amendment is the unconditional terms for Barak Obama and the liberals in Congress to receive an OK for raising the debt limit. Senator DeMint believes it is a hard sell, but has a good chance of passage.
All 41 Republican members of the United States Senate have signed on to support this Amendment, and Republicans in the House of Representatives are fully behind it. Moreover, according to Freshman Senator Mike Lee on today’s FOX & Friends television show, numerous Democrat Senators and Congressmen are getting on board.
Why do Jim DeMint and the Republicans support this bill so strongly and why do they think it could possibly get two-thirds support in both the House of Representatives and the Senate? First and foremost, they know that a band aid fix will not solve the problem of spending. As DeMint put it in his talk, spending is an addiction, like drugs or alcohol. Unless there is a Constitutional Amendment in place, Congress will always spend more than it takes in. It is their way of getting re-elected (as Alexis de Tocqueville predicted).
Why does he think it can pass the Senate and House? The Senator said that there is a greater likelihood of persuading two-thirds of all Congressmen and Senators to limit spending capacity in the future, than it is to persuade 51% of them to cut spending immediately. In other words, rather then face the wrath of the American people and possibly go down to defeat in 2012, they would rather make this a challenge for future members of Congress than vote for spending cuts now. Kicking the can down the road rather than making hard decisions seems to be the favorite pastime of Members of Congress
There’s something else working in DeMint’s favor. A very recent poll shows that 65 percent of the American people support a Balance Budget amendment. Only 27 percent oppose it and 8 percent are undecided. This overwhelming support by the American people is hard for any politician to go against, especially with the 2012 election looming.
Not surprisingly, 81 percent of Republicans support the amendment and 68 percent of independents support it. Surprisingly, even a plurality of Democrats back the Amendment by a 45 percent to 44 percent margin. This poll shows how attractive a balanced budget is politically.
If the Amendment fails due to a lack of Democrat support, liberal Democrat candidates will pay a high price in the elections of 2012. It is a powerful cudgel that will knock aside those candidates who refuse to follow the will of the American people. Remember, getting re-elected is the most important goal of all members of Congress.
Will it pass? I don’t know. And frankly, Jim DeMint doesn’t know either. But I do know that he and other new, principled Republican leaders are prepared to wage all out war to pass this Constitutional Amendment and send it to the states for ratification. It will not only balance the budget permanently, but also limit federal government spending to 18% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the historic level over the past 40 years. In stark contrast, federal government spending today is nearly 25% of the GDP, an unsustainable amount that has brought our nation to the verge of a Greek style bankruptcy.
Write, e-mail, or call your Congressman and Senator today and insist that they bring some fiscal sanity to Washington by supporting the Balanced Budget and Spending Limit Amendment. This can be the first and critical step in returning our nation to financial solvency and Constitutional government.
The other evening I had an opportunity to speak with one of my heroes, United States Senator Jim DeMint, a true American statesman. DeMint is a rare bird in Washington, DC—a man of character, courage, and principle. His first principle is to follow the words of the United States Constitution as they were written. Obviously, that’s not always easy to do, but it is what members of Congress (and those in both the Executive Branch and Judicial branch) take an oath to do. It’s not easy, but neither is it as hard as liberal politicians and judges pretend it is. After all, the Constitution is a written document of principles intended to limit the power of government and to ensure that power is shared by the three branches. Its philosophy is built upon a clear and accurate understanding of human nature—men and women are imperfect human beings who, if given the opportunity, will seek power over other human beings through the aegis of government as they have done from the beginning of time. Senator Jim DeMint understands and is committed to the same understanding as our Founding Fathers. He states his case for a commitment to the founding principles found in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution in his excellent book, Saving Freedom. It is a book that every American should read.
While lesser men come to Washington and get swallowed up in the heady power of being a Senator or Congressman, Jim DeMint has not lost his way. He can be counted on to take principled stands that frequently rankle the leadership of the Republican Party. Thanks in no small part to Jim DeMint, Marco Rubio is the US Senator from Florida, not RINO Charlie Crist; Rand Paul is the US Senator from Kentucky, not career politician, Trey Grayson; and Mike Lee is the US Senator from Utah, not Bob Bennett. It takes a huge amount of courage to buck the leadership of the Republican Party. Jim DeMint did it and won.
Now, Jim DeMint is in the forefront of the battle to block raising the debt ceiling unless permanent action is taken to make sure this never happens again. And this time, the leadership of both the House and the Senate is four square behind Senator DeMint. He spoke of his plan the other evening at the reception I attended and here is what he and fellow conservatives have proposed…
A Balanced Budget and Spending Limit Amendment to the US Constitution
This amendment is the unconditional terms for Barak Obama and the liberals in Congress to receive an OK for raising the debt limit. Senator DeMint believes it is a hard sell, but has a good chance of passage.
All 41 Republican members of the United States Senate have signed on to support this Amendment, and Republicans in the House of Representatives are fully behind it. Moreover, according to Freshman Senator Mike Lee on today’s FOX & Friends television show, numerous Democrat Senators and Congressmen are getting on board.
Why do Jim DeMint and the Republicans support this bill so strongly and why do they think it could possibly get two-thirds support in both the House of Representatives and the Senate? First and foremost, they know that a band aid fix will not solve the problem of spending. As DeMint put it in his talk, spending is an addiction, like drugs or alcohol. Unless there is a Constitutional Amendment in place, Congress will always spend more than it takes in. It is their way of getting re-elected (as Alexis de Tocqueville predicted).
Why does he think it can pass the Senate and House? The Senator said that there is a greater likelihood of persuading two-thirds of all Congressmen and Senators to limit spending capacity in the future, than it is to persuade 51% of them to cut spending immediately. In other words, rather then face the wrath of the American people and possibly go down to defeat in 2012, they would rather make this a challenge for future members of Congress than vote for spending cuts now. Kicking the can down the road rather than making hard decisions seems to be the favorite pastime of Members of Congress
There’s something else working in DeMint’s favor. A very recent poll shows that 65 percent of the American people support a Balance Budget amendment. Only 27 percent oppose it and 8 percent are undecided. This overwhelming support by the American people is hard for any politician to go against, especially with the 2012 election looming.
Not surprisingly, 81 percent of Republicans support the amendment and 68 percent of independents support it. Surprisingly, even a plurality of Democrats back the Amendment by a 45 percent to 44 percent margin. This poll shows how attractive a balanced budget is politically.
If the Amendment fails due to a lack of Democrat support, liberal Democrat candidates will pay a high price in the elections of 2012. It is a powerful cudgel that will knock aside those candidates who refuse to follow the will of the American people. Remember, getting re-elected is the most important goal of all members of Congress.
Will it pass? I don’t know. And frankly, Jim DeMint doesn’t know either. But I do know that he and other new, principled Republican leaders are prepared to wage all out war to pass this Constitutional Amendment and send it to the states for ratification. It will not only balance the budget permanently, but also limit federal government spending to 18% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the historic level over the past 40 years. In stark contrast, federal government spending today is nearly 25% of the GDP, an unsustainable amount that has brought our nation to the verge of a Greek style bankruptcy.
Write, e-mail, or call your Congressman and Senator today and insist that they bring some fiscal sanity to Washington by supporting the Balanced Budget and Spending Limit Amendment. This can be the first and critical step in returning our nation to financial solvency and Constitutional government.
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